At least 120 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be procured for next year for children and as booster shots, according to the Public Health Ministry. Bangkok Post

Ministry plans 120m Covid shots for 2022

A woman gets a Covid-19 vaccine shot at True Digital Park on Sukhumvit Road on Thursday. (Photo by Varuth Hirunyatheb)

At least 120 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be procured for next year for children and as booster shots, according to the Public Health Ministry.

Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said on Saturday that the National Vaccine Institute had been in talks to buy at least 50 million doses each of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, which would be second-generation if they are successfully developed in time.

The vaccines will be of various types including mRNA, viral vector and protein subunit.

So far this year, Thailand has taken delivery of 6 million doses in June and 10 million each in July and August, in line with plans, he said. 

The department has also been in talks with AstraZeneca for a bigger monthly supply of the vaccine for thest of the year. For September, AstraZeneca has agreed to supply 7.2 million doses, he said.

The national vaccination programme got off to a slow start in June as AstraZeneca supplies were below target and authorities had few over options in hand.

However, the campaign has gradually picked up with an improvement in vaccine availability and choices. In the past two weeks, vaccinations have exceeded 500,000 on most weekdays.

As of Friday, 5.9 million people or 8.9% of the population have been fully vaccinated. A total of 19.9 million have received their first dose.